31.   Dire predictions that Starbucks had finally overreached have proved wrong.

32.   Despite the dire predictions, the industry did not disappear.

33.   Dire predictions of an economic shock resulting from military action, however, could stop whatever economic progress is being made dead in its tracks.

34.   Disputing dire predictions from some Texas Democrats, Bush said that added flexibility for state Medicaid officials would more than offset the loss of federal money.

35.   Drilling proponents point out that despite dire predictions, a smaller caribou herd nearer the Prudhoe Bay complex has actually grown since oil production started there.

36.   Ehrlich has many allies in the scientific community, but he has been making dire predictions on resource depletion, famine and epidemics for three decades.

37.   Every year as the date approaches, the Internet crackles with dire predictions.

38.   Even during downturns this year, investors have quietly snapped up equities, ignoring the dire predictions of a coming collapse, he said.

39.   Given the dire predictions of election-related riots and bloodshed, such euphoria is understandable.

40.   He was happy as a clam, discussing dire predictions of receding shores and expanding populations.